Free
by RainbowVeins1612
Summary: No one knows anything about her, not even her real name and she likes it that way. She's here to survive not to make friends and love is completely out of the question but they don't seem to understand that. *Set a year before Tris comes to Dauntless*
1. Chapter 1

Free yawned as one of her new leaders – Eric she thought is name was but she'd never been good with names – began to come to the end of his speech, "... If you're below the red line at the end of stage one, you'll be cut." Free wondered if he shouted everything he said. She yawned once more; she hoped he wouldn't notice as she wasn't trying to be rude, she was simply tired.

"I'm sorry, am I boring you initiate?" He asked, his – and everybody else's – attention now solely on her. She began to shake her head as the gap between her and her instructor closed in two steps. She gulped; his face was only two inches from her own as he growled, "Then I suggest you wake up, though I doubt you'll last long here, Stiff." Free preferred when he was shouting, her heart was beating so fast that she was certain it was going to burst from her chest but the works _Stiff_ seemed to breathe life into a fiery side of her "I suggest you get your nose out of my face before I bite it." She suggested and as if to prove a point she snapped her teeth at him. The instructor narrowed his eyes at her as he straightened himself up, Free hadn't realised he'd been bent down to be level with her but she should have guessed since she had always been ridiculously short.

He smiled at her, though it wasn't a nice smile more like a warning, "We'll see just how well you do, _Stiff._" He said as he turned away, Free didn't like how he emphasised that word, like he knew it was that, that had bothered her. He continued to bark at the group for a few more minutes before letting them go back to their sleeping quarters before dinner.

Free looked at herself in the mirror in the bathroom, she wasn't used to being able to look at herself whenever she wanted but she was thoroughly enjoying it which made her feel a little guilty. She felt a little uncomfortable in the dauntless clothing she had chosen but she had liked the look of the short sleeved dress with the cinched waist and lightly flared skirt although she had been shocked at how short it was once she put it on. She had then paired that with a pair of knee high boots with laces all the way up the front. She thought she looked good which made her feel guiltier.

About an hour later and the group of transfers made their way to the hall where they and the rest of Dauntless would eat. There was noise everywhere, Free just couldn't focus on one noise from the next which made her feel a little lost, but a good kind of lost where she felt like she could disappear. She sat at a table with the rest of the transfers, she didn't know much about them and they didn't seem all too bothered with her which was just fine in her opinion, she liked to be alone. She picked at her dinner, unsure about the strange but welcomed new tastes.

At the end of the meal, the dauntless members began to drum there cups on the table, Free didn't really understand what was going on but the rest of her group joined in so she less enthusiastically began to drum her cup on the table, next thing she knew she was being hoisted out of her seat as she tried to fight against arms. "Put me down! Stop touching me!" She shouted but it was lost in the screams of excitement and cheers around her. She squirmed among the arms that held her up, looking for any weak link where she could drop to the ground, she continued to shout but no one seemed to hear and then she hit the floor, quite hard. Around her the noise died down into a low buzz as she look up at the ceiling and a dozen arms offered to her, she swatted them away and pulled herself up off the floor, looking round the hall till her eyes locked with a pair she'd seen up close earlier that day. He smiled, that same warning smile he'd shared with her earlier and Free narrowed her eyes at him before turning round and easily making her way through the crowd, sometimes being so small came in handy.

That night, like many others, Free couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned and sighed so many times that eventually a Candor girl in the next bed over threw her pillow at her, "Just give up Stiff, there's no way you're falling asleep and you're keeping the rest of us up." Free picked the pillow up of the floor where it had landed and threw it back, not as gently as the girl had originally thrown it and hard enough to cause the girl to intake a short breath in surprise.

The girl was right though; there was no way Free was getting to sleep. Instead she climbed out of bed, placing her bare feet onto the ice cold, stone floor and walking towards the bathroom area. She looked at herself in the mirror once more, sitting across from it with her back against the wall. Her choice of pyjamas – and oversized t-shirt and a pair of tight fitting leggings – looked just as good on her as the dress she had picked out. Free decided that black was her colour, it caused the green eyes she had inherited from her father to stand out against the paleness of her skin and made her waist-length blonde hair look a shade or two lighter than it actually was, even in the darkness of the unlit room.

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_So like yeah. This is my first fic for the Divergent Trilogy which is weird 'cause I read them a while ago and fell in love with them so I'm surprised I didn't write anything sooner. I have a feeling this is going to be one of my better fics as I have quite a bit of motivation for this one. So anyway I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and actually want to keep reading, if you'd like to leave a review that would be amazing and much appreciated!_ ~**RainbowVeins1612**


	2. Chapter 2

"C'mon stiff, you've got to try harder than that if you don't want to join the factionless." Eric taunted her. It was the first day of their training and only an hour in Free already felt like she could hardly stand. She hadn't managed to fall asleep for even a minute during the night and so was beyond tired and now Eric seemed to be enjoying pushing her harder than the other transfers, probably because of the comment she had made the day before. "Maybe if I was imaging your face instead of seeing a punching bag I'd hit harder?" Free shrugged and the other instructor – a guy named Four who hadn't spoken much and tended to only get involved when he didn't agree with Eric's way of teaching – sniggered to himself. Free wished she could just hold her tongue, comment like that would only make it worse for herself.

Eric grabbed the back of her t-shirt and dragged her to a raised platform in the middle of the room where two boys had been sparring, Eric told them to clear off and once they had he pushed Free up onto it. "You." Eric said and pointed towards the back of the small crowd of initiates that had formed at a boy who was at least twice Free's height and built with muscle to spare. The boy jumped up into the ring without question. "You've got a quick tongue, stiff. Let's see how quick the rest of you is."

Free looked over to Four in hopes that he would protest but he seemed disinterested in whatever was going on, she turned back to look at the boy in front of her. He stood with his fists up and legs apart. "Get on with it, initiates." Eric sneered at them and with that the boy made his first punch. Free ducked and the punch managed to graze her cheek, if she'd been a second slower this fight would have already been over.

The boy went to punch her again but this time Free was ready and as he punched, she dived between his open legs, twist so that her back was on the ground and kicking up as hard as she could with her left leg. To her surprise her move had actually worked and the boy clutched at his crotch in pain which gave Free enough time to get back to her feet and with as much force as she could muster, punch him square in the nose and send him to the floor.

Eric stopped the fight, his expression was certainly not happy. Free smiled down at him from the ring as she shook her fist, punching the boy had really hurt it but looking down at she guessed it was only a sprain. Eric called for them to take a break and told Free to go get her hand sorted out.

Free sat on the edge of a bed in what looked to be a smaller version of the room the initiates slept in, except this one was much cleaner and had contraptions Free had only every seen in the hospital when her parents had made her volunteer there. A woman was strapping up her sprained hand as Free held an ice pack to her lightly bruised face with her other one. Someone behind her cleared their throat and Free twisted her head to see Eric stood in the doorway. The woman quickly finished up what she was doing and made herself scarce, Free noticed that the woman kept her eyes down, as if looking at Eric wasn't allowed.

Eric now stood at the end of the bed Free sat on. "That was playing dirty, kicking the guy like that." He said his voice for the first time since Free had arrived was actually at a normal volume. He opened his mouth to carry on speaking but Free cut him off, "Kick a guy in the balls or possibly end up dead? Oh it was such a hard decision to make." She scoffed then winced as she pressed the ice pack a little harder against her cheek.

Eric scowled at her and shaking his head he began to walk towards the door. He stopped for a moment in the doorway and looked back at her. "I wouldn't have let him kill you." He told her and before she could reply he walked out. Free flopped back onto the bed and instantly wished she'd been gentler, her body ached all over and she was ridiculously tired but every time she closed her eyes she saw _their _faces. They were always smiling at her which never matched their actions as they told her "It's for your own good." Then her eyes would jump open and she'd be gasping for air and... Even thinking about it her heart began to race and it would become hard to breath.

After a while of staring up at the ceiling Free pulled herself back up into a sitting position, her face had stopped stinging and was more of a dull ache now and her hand only hurt when she moved it. The woman who'd wrapped her hand had reappeared and told her she could leave whenever she wanted and that her hand shouldn't take more than a couple of days to fully heal as long as she didn't put too much strain on it.

Free sighed as she walked around the dauntless compound, she'd decided she wasn't going back to training today, though she did wonder where she was on the rankings. Looking around she thought about getting a tattoo but decided against it as she didn't know what she'd get as it would be pointless if it had no meaning. In the end she opted to change the colour of her hair so she headed into one of the shops that advertised hair dying. When she came out again her blonde hair was gone, instead it was a lilac colour that faded into pale blue as it reached the end of her hair.

Looking in the mirror back in the transfer's bathroom she hardly recognised herself, she had changed out of her t-shirt and jeans into the dress from the day before and found that her hair really completed her new look, she looked dauntless, except for the faint circles that were beginning to form around her eyes from lack of sleep.

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_Thanks for the favs and follows guys, much appreciated. _ _I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did please leave a review telling me so! If you didn't tell me what I'm doing wrong! Thanks for reading ~__**RainbowVeins1612**_


	3. Chapter 3

Free had managed to avoid seeing Eric or the other initiates for the rest of the day until dinner came around. "Free!" Someone called, "Over here." Free looked over to where the voice had come from, it was the Candor girl who had thrown a pillow at her the night before, it was the first time Free had heard her new name being said by someone else and she smiled as she wandered over to the table, the girl and the other transfers sat at. "Nice hair." The girl said as she shifted over to make room for Free to sit down with them. Looking round the table, her eyes fell on the boy directly opposite her, the boy she'd beat in the fight. "Um, hey." She said "I'm sorry about before, it wasn't exactly fair of me..." She let her sentence trail off, she didn't really want to apologise since the fight hadn't exactly been fair to begin with but apologising just seemed like something she should. The boy shrugged it off with a smile, the fight hadn't seemed to faze him and there was only a little bruising around his nose so he didn't seem all that hurt either.

For a while Free just picked at her food and half listened to the conversations going on around her, she managed to figure out the Candor girls name was Katie but the rest were still blanks to her. "Hey, does anyone know if I'm in the red zone?" Free asked, curious to know where she'd ranked. Katie and a couple of the other transfers laughed, "Out of the twelve of us you're ranked fourth." Katie answered, "No you're not in the red zone."

Free was shocked but pleased to hear that she wasn't getting cut yet, but it was only the first day so she knew she couldn't get too cocky about it. She had thought she'd be ranked much lower, especially after Eric had come to see her and basically tried telling her off. She looked around the hall but couldn't seem to find her instructor anywhere among the crowds.

Free had been in the dauntless compound for a week now and so far it had been sleepless nights and exhausting training in which Eric seemed to favour making her work harder than anyone else but the most surprising thing that had happened over this week was Free had accidently made friends. She only knew about two of their names for certain but a small group of the transfer initiates seemed to have adopted her and Katie had labelled herself as mother.

Training was over for the day and as the evening went on, Katie did most of the talking between the two, like most Candors she didn't know how to shut up but that was just fine with Free, she wasn't one for sharing anyway. Katie dragged Free wherever the group went even though all Free wanted to do was be on her own.

Eventually they found themselves back in their room. It was pretty late and some people were already asleep and it didn't take long for Free's new friends to follow suit. Once again Free couldn't sleep, she hadn't slept for longer than ten minutes since she got here, she was yawning and her eyes kept drooping, then she would see their faces and her eyes would shoot open.

She got up from her bed, her feet touching the ice cold floor as she began to walk, she didn't know where she was going but regardless she kept walking until she came to a stop at the railing that stopped people from simply walking over the edge into the chasm. Free looked over the edge but she couldn't see the bottom. "I hope you're not thinking of jumping," A voice said and looking to her side, about two metres away stood Eric, "I really wouldn't like having to send a group to find your body." Free shrugged as she turned to look back down. Eric came and stood beside her, a few inches separating them. "You're pretty good with a gun you know." He said, "You just need to work on the recoil, that's why your aims always a little off." Free sniggered, "Are you actually trying to give me some pointers?" She asked and received a shrug in reply, so Free carried on, "All you've done since I've got here is make things hard for me. Is it because I don't cower at the sight of you?" She asked, "Because I'm not scared of you like the rest of them?" Eric was simply looking at her but Free couldn't read his expression. The he reached his hand up to her face, not in a threatening way but still Free flinched. Free thought for a moment a look of hurt had flashed across Eric's face but if it had then it had disappeared pretty quick.

"Don't touch me." Free told him simply, "I don't like to be touched." Eric nodded and his hand fell back to his side. The two were silent for a while, both staring down into the chasm. It was Eric who broke the silence, "You're not sleeping?" He asked, Free was about to deny it, telling him she was sleeping just fine but he interrupted her, "I can tell from those circles around your eyes, and a couple of the other initiates were talking about it in training today." Free frowned, she hated knowing people were talking about her. "I can't sleep in there." She told him, "Too many people, not enough air and plenty of bad dreams." She shrugged like it was nothing.

Eric thought for a moment, then spoke, "Well I can't do much about bad dreams except to tell you they're not real but I can do something about too many people. C'mon." He said and motioned for her to follow him. He started walking away and Free didn't know if going with him was a good idea but she found herself following him anyway.

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_Oooh another chapter in the same day? That's 'cause I'm so good to you people and I have a lot of muse. Well anyways I hope you like it and again thanks for the favs and follows, much appreciated! Reviews make me happy though! ~__**RainbowVeins1612**_


	4. Chapter 4

Eric lead her to part of the dauntless compound that Free had never been too before but when she thought about it she'd only ever been to the room the transfers slept in, the training areas and the pit so it was less surprising that she hadn't been here before. Eric lead her into a room that was furnished like a little house had been put inside one room. There was a sofa and a coffee table in one area, a stack of books on the table which Free noted as interesting, then another area was like a bedroom, another area contained weights of different sizes. There was another door across the room that Free assumed lead to a bathroom, all that was missing was a kitchen which Free guessed no one would need since the dauntless all ate together. One wall of the room – the one the bed rested against – was almost entirely made up of windows that looked out across the city but all Free could really notice was the sky, it was a clear night and every star shone brightly, a half-moon shone light into the room.

Eric flicked a switch on the wall and the moon's light was replace with that of several small spotlights dotted about the ceiling and walls. Free looked over to him, he leant against the wall whilst she had wandered straight into the room and started looking round, ending at the windows, "Is this your room?" She asked, Eric nodded and pushed himself off the wall to join her at the window.

"There's only me in here so too many people shouldn't be a problem and," He pushed against one of the windows a few times until it finally shifted opening up and letting in an chilled night breeze, "Plenty of air." He finished. Free looked at him suspiciously, "Why are you being nice to me all of a sudden?" She asked, he'd been downright awful to her some days and now he was actually being kind, Free just didn't understand. "You're a fighter, Free." Eric replied, the first time he'd used her name and not called her a stiff, "You don't fall down when I push you, you just push me right back." He continued, "I hate that, but in a way I also like it. I like that even when you're so tired you're swaying on your feet," He said giving her a look that told her she seriously needed to sit down so she sat on the edge of his bed, then he continued, "You don't give up. You just keep on fighting."

They'd spent the next hour or so sitting on the bare wood floor talking, Free decided that Eric wasn't so bad when he wasn't trying to crush you like a bug. He was ridiculously intelligent which she found out was to be expected since he was an Erudite transfer. Eventually Free grew so tired that her responses were little more than humphs and sighs. When her eyes closed, Eric stood up from the floor and reached down to pick her up but as soon as his hand reached her shoulder her eyes shot open, "Don't touch me." She snapped, her breathing instantly faster. She blinked a few times as she took a few deep breaths, "Sorry, I don't like to be touched." She muttered and pulled herself off the floor. Eric watched her sway on her feet, ready to catch her if she fell, no matter what she said about being touched. Once he was sure she was steady he spoke, "You can take the bed, and I'll take the sofa." He said and Free laughed a half asleep kind of laugh that showed she wasn't fully aware. Even so as Eric pulled a spare blanket out of a drawer and made his way to the sofa, Free climbed into the bed, wrapping herself up in the covers and burying her face into his pillows, it smelt like him she noted, like winter air, cold and fresh, this was her last thought before she succumbed to sleep. That's when the dreams came and she was too tired to wake up from them.

_"It's for your own good." The woman said, she wore grey and her blonde hair was tied into a tight bun on the back of her head. "She's right; we're doing this to help you." The man beside her agreed, his hair was brown and greying slightly but his eyes were all you could notice, such a bright green. Free sat on the floor of the bathroom back in her home in Abnegation, looking up at them and shaking her head, "Please, I'll do better I promise." She pleaded but her words were falling on deaf ears. The woman took her left side and the man took her right, lifting her off the floor and turning her round so she was facing the tub of water "No, please no. No." Free was crying now, though she tried terribly hard not to. "It's for your own good." The woman repeated and pushed the girl's head down into the cold water, Free thrashed around but they were too strong and she couldn't pull herself out of the water but she also couldn't hold her breath much longer..._

Free woke up gasping for but she couldn't seem to find any, tears ran down her face and she was drenched in sweat. A moment later and someone was sat beside her, reaching out for her, she swatted his hands away. "Free, stop." The voice was gentle and looking beside her she saw Eric, which confused her a little, his voice was never gentle, "Free, you're okay just breathe." He told her, "You can breathe." He wanted so badly to just hold her still; she was thrashing about so much but instead he just offered words of comfort while he held her eyes with his own. Free took several deep breathes as she tried to calm down.

A few minutes later and Free sat on Eric's bed, her knees pulled up under chin as she wiped away tears that were still escaping her eyes. Eric sat at the opposite end of the bed, legs crossed as he watched her. "You know Fours going to start training you in your fear landscape in the morning right?" Eric said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them, "Whatever you're dreaming about its probably going to be in there and it's going to be so much realer than a dream." Free shrugged, "Simulations don't bother me, I'm..." She said managing to stop herself before she said the word; she'd been warned that her test result wasn't something she should share. "I'm good at keeping level headed, usually." She continued. Eric looked at her dubiously but after a moment he let it slide, he sighed and looked up at the clock that sat on a small table beside the bed, three forty-two in the morning. "Well you slept for nearly four hours which is probably more than you've had in the last week all together so I'm not going to force _you_ to go back to sleep," Free raised an eyebrow at him, "And how exactly would you do that?" She asked but he ignored her, "But I am going back to sleep, so shift to the sofa since you're not going to be using my bed." Free narrowed her eyes at him, a playful smile on her lips, "No," She said simply and dragged the covers over herself, snuggling down into his pillows once more, "Its warm here, I'm not moving." Eric shrugged, "Fine then." He said and laid down beside her, his back to her, pulling half the covers away from her for himself.

Free lay as solid as a rock, her eyes a little wide in shock. Her heart beat was racing and she could feel warm heat radiating from him. "Eric," She said but got no reply, "Eric get out." She tried again but from the sound of Eric's steady breathing an occasional light snore, Eric was already asleep.

Free wanted to get out of the bed but half of her wanted to stay, her heart was beating so loud she was convinced it was going to wake him up. He lay only a few inches away from her, she could reach out and touch him... What was she thinking? She'd told him countless times that she didn't like to be touch and here she was... It was ridiculous. Free closed her eyes hoping that immersing herself in darkness would make her forget he was even there, surprisingly about ten minutes later she had fallen into a dreamless sleep.

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_A third chapter in the same day, I must be feeling good today. This is definitely the last one today though. We got to see a different side of Eric in this chapter, I didn't even know where I was going when I started writing this one but hey, I think it turned out all right. A couple more of the faved/followed after the last chapter which is great so thanks for that but after 341 views I haven't had a single review which makes me a little uneasy, what is going on inside you readers' heads? Tell me! ~__**RainbowVeins1612**_


	5. Chapter 5

It was Eric who woke up first, the sun shining in through the window lit up the room and cast a subtle warmth over everything it touched. He rubbed his eyes in attempt to cast away the sleep that still lingered there. For a while he sat and watched Free sleep, her lilac hair covered half her face, though it didn't look like she'd moved an inch since he'd fallen to sleep.

"Stop watching me." The girl mumbled, Eric hadn't even realized she was awake; her eyes were still closed when she spoke. "I'm just trying to work out what you're still doing here when you should be with the other initiates getting ready for your first trip into your fears." Eric replied, Free's eyes shot open and in a second she was on her feet. "Why didn't you wake me up?" She snapped as she made her way to the door. Eric narrowed his eyes at her, "That's not my job; you should be able to get yourself up, stiff." He replied crossing his arms over his chest. Free let out an exasperated sigh, "Just when I was beginning to think you weren't a total dick." She mumbled as she walked out the door.

Free didn't understand how Eric's personality could change so quick, only hours before he'd been so nice to her but just then he'd been his usual arrogant self, it made her head hurt trying to think about it, so she pushed it to the back of her mind for now. She made her way back to the tranfer's room only to find it empty so quickly she changed her clothes and tied her hair up in pony tail and left again, in search of the rest of her group.

She found them a little while later and as she entered the room Katie sprang up from her seat, "Where had you been?" She asked but before Free could answer she continued talking, "Fours already asked for you twice now, I don't think he's too happy. You're probably in trouble." The girl rambled on until finally Free told her to shut up. Katie looked a little hurt but she closed her mouth and reclaimed her seat. Free would have probably felt a little guilty if she'd have noticed but she didn't. She sat down beside her and waited.

Minutes later a door at the other end of the room opened and dark skinned girl with short hair came out, she looked a little shaken and her eyes were wide, following her out was their other instructor, Four. "I see you've finally decided to show up, Free." He said and Katie had been right, he wasn't happy. He seemed to be in a very bad mood actually. "If you like to grace me with your presence in here that's be great." He said with a false smile as he pointed behind towards the other room. Free stood up from her seat and followed him in. She sat down in a seat that looked comfy but actually wasn't and half listened to Four as he explained what was about to happen. It was only when he took out a needle to inject her with serum and took a step towards her that she gave him her full attention. She held up her hand to stop him from coming any closer, "Can I...?" She asked motioning between to needle and her neck. "Be my guest." He replied and handed her the needle. Without even pausing, Free jabbed it into her own neck and released the serum into her blood stream. Her last image before she drifted off was of Four's slightly shocked face.

When she woke up she was no longer in the little room, instead she was floating in what looked to be the dried up lake in the city, except it was no longer dried up. She bobbed up and down in the water for a few moments, nothing seemed to be happening and she wondered how on Earth this could be a fear. Then it happened, something grabbed her ankle and began to drag her down into the murky water. She tried to swim upwards but whatever it was just pulled harder and when she tried to kick at it, something caught onto her other leg. For what seemed like forever she tried to get away, her lungs burning from lack of oxygen, but she just kept being dragged further and further from the surface. _It's not real, _she told herself _it's not real _and as if with that sudden realization, her lungs filled with air. She looked down at her ankles to see what had caught hold of her only to find what had felt like hands was only tangled water plants, she gave her legs a good pull and the plant's vines snapped, releasing her from their grip and enabling her to float back up to the water's surface but once she reached the surface instead of seeing the sky her eyes focussed onto a ceiling instead.

Free sat up in the chair and took a few deep breaths to prove to herself she could breathe. "Fear of water?" Four asked and Free shook her head, "Fear of drowning." She corrected. Four nodded as he swiped at a screen Free couldn't see. "Do you know how long you were in there?" Four asked and Free shrugged, "It felt like hours." She replied but Four shook his head at her, "Six minutes." He corrected, "Pretty remarkable if you ask me." He was looking at her strangely, like he was trying to read her. Free scowled at him, "If you've got something to say just come out and say it," She snapped. "What were the results of your aptitude test?" He asked.

"Abnegation," Free replied, the lie rolling off her tongue as easy as tying her own shoelaces. Four laughed, not just a snigger, he actually laughed, "Yes because the way you took that kids muffin while he wasn't looking at breakfast was so selfless of you."

Free narrowed her eyes at him, "Have you been watching me?" She asked, Four smiled at her, "Naturally." He replied, "Anyone that gets to Eric the way you do is worth watching."

His smile disappeared after a moment and he was back to his serious self that Free was so used to seeing during training. "You don't have to lie to me you know." He said, "I don't think we're all that different, you and I." The corner of Free's lip turned up into a half-smile as she stood up from the chair, "You can come to your own conclusions about me," She told him as she headed for the door, turning as she reached it to look over her shoulder at her instructor, "But the results say Abnegation." With that said she left the room only to be bombarded with questions from Katie.

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_Big, big thank yous to my two reviewers!_

_**budderindisguise - **__I'm glad you're enjoying it!_

_**mona-rose **__- I was actually thinking the same thing so I'm going to work on that, other than that I'm glad you like it!_

_ It really is much appreciated and I hope to receive a few more. Question time now - __**What would you guys think about a love triangle?**__ - I've never done one before but I have a plan of how I could fit it into this fic and would really like to know how you guys would feel about that? ~__**RainbowVeins1612**_


	6. Chapter 6

Free sat for ten minutes looking at the rank board, she couldn't believe her name was at the top. After the first stage the transfer group had lost three initiates who were now factionless meaning there were now only nine transfer initiates left but somehow even though they were now ranked against the dauntless born, Free had ranked number one. She knew she'd been quick to get out of her fear but she didn't think she'd been ranked-first-quick.

"You seriously need to tell me how you did it." Katie said coming up behind Free who shrugged, "I don't even know how I did it," Free replied as Katie sat down beside her. The two sat in silence for a moment until Katie spoke again, "Four was looking for you by the way." She said and Free raised her eyebrows at her as she got to her feet, "He was in the pit a minute ago." Katie informed her and Free headed towards the door muttering a thank you as she left.

Free wondered what Four could want, he'd barely spoke two words to her until he'd put her through her first fear. Free had been so engrossed in her own thoughts that as she rounded a corner on her way to the pit she found herself hitting something solid with enough force to knock her down, "Oh my... Are you okay?" Free looked up at the speaker who crouched down and reached out a hand to help her up, she swatted it away. "I'm fine." She replied with slightly narrowed eyes as she picked herself up off the floor. "I was coming to find you actually; Katie said you were looking for me." Free looked up at Four, his face was always so serious, "What did you want?"

Four gestured for her to walk with him, which she did and as they walked Four spoke, "I've decided to change my approach with you." He said his voice low, "You don't seem to respond very well to subtlety so I'm going to just out right ask you." They had reached the chasm and that was where Four stopped walking; the roar of the water below them filled the air with sound. Four looked around and once he was sure there was no one around he spoke, "You're like me, you're Divergent." Four said his voice quiet as he faced Free.

A smile crossed Free's lips as she replied, "Saying silly things like that can get you killed you know." She stared up at him as she spoke slowly, "I'm dauntless," She said her voice quiet "but I'm also Erudite and Candor and Amity and yes, a very small part of me is Abnegation." Four chuckled a little at that bit. "But none of that matters because all I _want_ to be is Free." She looked over the barrier that separated them from a deathly fall, "Divergent is just another label that tells me I can't have that."

Four gently placed his hand on her shoulder but Free roughly shook it off, "Don't touch me." She muttered. Four leant against the barrier, "You need to work on that." He said and Free looked at him questioningly. "Human contact is a big part of freedom," He said, standing up straight once more and facing her. "Freedom to push back the loose strand of hair that always falls in front of your eyes," He said gently as he reach towards her and did just that, Free took a step back away from him but he took a step forward and carried on, "Freedom to brush the almost gone bruise that still faintly marks your cheek from that first fight." He hooked his fingers under her chin and turned her head to look at him as his thumb gently crossed over the bruise. Free's heart was pumping faster than lightning as she looked up at him, his touches were so gentle yet each one made her feel like she was being crushed. "Freedom to-" began again but was interrupted by a throat clearing.

"Four, Max is looking for you." Eric growled, his eyes narrowed and his arms were crossed as he leant his back against the barrier. Four's hand dropped back to his side as he turned to face the other boy and raised his eyebrows in question, "In the security room." Eric added in the same tone of voice. Four turned back to Free, "I'll see you later, yeah?" He said but walked off before Free could reply.

Free was about to leave too when Eric spoke, "What were you two _talking_ about?" He asked, his voice now light but almost mocking. Free shrugged, "Nothing, really." She replied matching his tone, she turned away from him to walk away but he carried on speaking, "I thought you didn't like to be touched?" He asked, Free looked over her shoulder at him, "I don't," She said "But other people's freedom can work against you sometimes." With that she walked away.

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_Sorry about the short chapter guys, I don't know what happened but I just couldn't seem to make word count._

_Thank you for the reviews! I think I'm going to go ahead with the love-triangle since I really want to do that and this chapter really does open the door for it. Also thanks for all the follows/favs they've increased quite a bit after the last chapter so that's much appreciated! Please keep reviewing, I reallike to know what's happening in your heads! Thanks for ready! ^.^ ~__**RainbowVeins1212**_


	7. Chapter 7

p class="MsoNormal"strongemSorry if you came to read this chapter a few minutes ago I missed like a lot when I was copy and pasting it, so ended up only uploading like half a chapter - I'm an idiot. Sorry. /em/strong/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"At dinner that night free had felt like all eyes were on her – though as far as she could tell no one was even looking her way - and so had quickly eaten a little and then left, telling Katie and the others she wasn't feeling well. She wandered around the compound for a while before heading to the transfer's room to find everybody changing into warmer clothes. "Where's everybody going?" Free asked flopping onto her unmade bed, beside Katie who was lacing up her boots, Katie opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a boy, Thomas Free believed his name was a transfer from Erudite, who seemed rather excited as he spoke, "War games!" He said like it should mean something to Free, "Its dauntless tradition, we're going to play capture the flag." He elaborated when Free gave him a blank look. Free nodded and hurriedly began to change into a pair of black, skin tight jeans and a plain t-shirt. She was just shrugging into a leather jacket when the initiates began to file out of the room./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Free couldn't contain the grin that spread across her face as she ran with her friends to catch the train, wind running through her hair. One by one initiates around her were jumping into the awaiting carriages, Free ran a little quicker and taking a deep breath she jumped managing to catch onto the handle on the outside of the carriage and swing herself inside, managing to stop herself only a couple of inches away from hitting into Four. "Sorry," She said as she took a step away from him, he smiled at her, "Its fine." He replied, Free's heart beat instantly grew faster and she could hardly breath as she turned away from him only to find Eric watching them, a scowl on his face, Free stuck her tongue out at him, it was childish but she didn't know how else to react. Eric turned away from her but Free was sure she saw a hint of a smile cross his lips before he did./p  
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p class="MsoNormal" style="border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext .75pt;  
padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm"Eric explained the game to them, Free only half listened but from what she did hear they were basically going to split into two teams and shoot balls of paint at each other till one team managed to capture the other's flag, seemed simple enough. "Free?" Katie said, snapping Free out of her thoughts. "We're about to get off." The girl laughed, "We're on Four's team." She informed her and moved to stand at the edge of the open carriage. "You really need to listen more." She laughed again, and then jumped. Others were jumping out of the carriage as well as the other carriages in front of theirs as Free lined herself up with the edge, preparing to jump. "Hurry it up Stiff; we'd all like to get off." Eric said from behind her, he sounded annoyed but she didn't think it was because she was taking her time to jump. Taking a deep breath as she had done to get on the train she stepped off./p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="color:#1F497D;mso-themecolor:text2"The game was fast paced and exciting even though their team was losing. A group from Eric's team had found where half of Four's team were protecting their flag in an abandoned building near the pier. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="color:#1F497D;mso-themecolor:text2"Free waited patiently on the small landing of the stairs the lead to each floor of the building, there wasn't much cover here other than the metal railing the climbed up the stairs but it was thought that the other team would find a better way of scaling the building, and by the sounds of gun shots above her, they had. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="color:#1F497D;mso-themecolor:text2""Just the stiff? Four's made it easy this year." A voice on the stairs had Free on her feet in seconds, her gun brought up to her chest and ready to fire. Eric laughed, his own gun aimed at Free. "Don't count on this being easy, I'm good with a gun remember?" She said and before Eric could reply, Free fired; her hand jerking at the gun's movement sending the paintball into the wall, even so Eric had dived to hide behind the metal railing on the steps below, his gun still pointed in her general direction. "You always forget about the recoil." He commented. Free crouched behind the railing closest to her; she was annoyed that she'd missed him. They fired shots at one another, their heads bobbing above the railing to aim then shooting down again as the other fired. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="color:#1F497D;mso-themecolor:text2"They shot abuse at each other as quick as they shot their paint bullets. "Shouldn't you be upstairs with the rest of your team?" Free asked as she fired her gun once more, causing Eric to duck behind the railing. "Why would I be up there when it's obvious that's not where the flag is?" Eric countered; he took a few slow breaths before quickly lifting his head and firing a few bullets in her direction. Neither of them had hit the other yet, "Oh really?" Free asked whilst hiding behind her section of railing, "Of course not, why would you have stayed here if you knew my team was already upstairs?" He asked as a moment of silence passed by, neither of them firing. "It's obvious that the flag is really in that room behind you." Eric concluded. The moment of silence was short lived as Free picked up her gun once more and fired at him, "You're such an erudite!" she snapped as she fired. Then her gun clicked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="color:#1F497D;mso-themecolor:text2"Free pulled the trigger furiously but her gun just kept clicking, she was out of paintballs and hadn't even hit him once. Eric took her moment of disbelief to make his shot. Free heard the shot being fired but never saw the bullet coming, only felt the intense pain it caused as it hit her lower leg. She let out a squeak of pain, since she'd joined the dauntless faction she'd been punched and kicked repeatedly, had aches and pains beyond belief and almost drowned in a simulation in her own head but none of that compared to the pain she felt in the moment the paintball connected with her jeans. "That's nothing compared to a real bullet stiff." Eric commented, his eyes were cold as he climbed up the steps that separated them, his gun pointed firmly in her direction./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="color: #1f497d;"Free took a deep breath, the initial shock of pain wearing off she slowly climbed to her feet. She clutched her gun tightly even though it was almost useless without any paintballs left. As Eric reached the top step, Free made a sudden decision; she swung the gun with as much force as she could manage in Eric's direction. The boy ducked and the gun impacted on his back and went tumbling down the stairs. When he straightened up Free could see from his face that it had hurt but it hadn't been enough to really have any effect on the situation except to make him pause for a moment. Free scowled at Eric, "You can't win everything, Stiff." Eric said, his gun was lowered and Free took the chance to throw a punch at him, he caught her fist, her cold hand was minuscule in comparison to his. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="color:#1F497D;mso-themecolor:text2"Slowly he walked her backwards, until her back suddenly hit the wall. "You're such a jerk." She told him, her voice was quiet, half from disappointment that he'd beaten her and half because she was finding breathing a little difficult. Free tried to pull her hand away from his but he wouldn't release it, "Let go, just go pick up the flag already!" She snapped turning her head away from him and looking at the door she'd been guarding. Eric smiled teasingly, "You're not going to try kicking me in sensitive areas?" He asked, "I thought that was your signature move." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="color:#1F497D;mso-themecolor:text2"Free was too angry to notice his smile, "Believe it or not Eric I'm not like you, I don't enjoy hurting people so there'd be no need since I've already lost." Eric frowned and released her from his grip; he turned his back to her and opened the door she'd been guarding, "I don't enjoy hurting emyou,/em" He said, standing in the door way, "Honestly its one of the things I hate the most." Before Free could react he walked into the room, the door swinging shut behind him. A moment later, cheers erupted from both upstairs and outside. The game was over. /span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"emThank you for reading and again, sorry to any of those who read it before I noticed the missing part. Please review ~strongRainbowVeins1612/strong/em/p  
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	8. Chapter 8

"Cheer up, Free." Four said as they walked back to the train tracks. Free had worn a frown since the game had ended and even Katie had decided to leave her alone. "You did your best, Eric was just better." He shrugged, Free sighed, she was upset about losing but she was also annoyed at Eric and how much he confused her. Then there was Four who was trying his hardest to get a smile out of her, like it was his mission in life. As they neared the track, Free could see the train growing closer, around her people were preparing to jump but Free waited, most people would try to get into the first couple of cars but she was aiming for the last car. The train sped past and the group began to run, Free fell towards the back and as the people in front of her started to jump she readied herself, focussing solely on the last train car and the jumping, grabbing the handle and pulling herself in.

She wasn't the only one to get into the last car, Four wasn't far behind her. She sat leaning against the wall of the train car and Four came and sat beside her. They sat in silence for a while listening to the roar of the train as it sped down the track. "Do you have any idea what fears we might see in your simulation tomorrow?" Four asked and Free shrugged, "I've got a few ideas, I guess we'll have to wait and see though." She replied abruptly, Four nodded. "You need to start thinking like a Dauntless, Free." Four said and Free looked at him questioningly, "In your first fear you didn't beat your fear or calm yourself, you changed the simulation to make it easier." Free raised her eyebrows and Four carried on, "It wasn't water weeds dragging you down, it was hands but you made it so you could breathe under the water and managed to change the hands to weeds." Four was shaking his head, "That's not how the simulation is supposed to work; you're not supposed to be aware that it's not real. You need to accept your fear as it is, not change it."

Free nodded, "But how do I do that?" She asked, "I can't even focus till I tell myself it's not real." Four thought for a moment before speaking, "Then focus on something else." He concluded and Free looked at him with raised eyebrows. "If you hadn't been late you'd have gotten to hear me explain that this simulation isn't about facing your fear it's about calming yourself during it. You just need to lower your heart rate." Four explained, then changed the subject slightly, "Why were you late anyway?" He asked.

Free shrugged, "Oh I slept in," She replied and Four shook his head, "No, I asked Katie and said she you weren't in the transfer's room when everyone else was waking up." Free smiled as she thought back to the morning, "I never said I slept in _my_ bed." She said and left it at that, deciding to let his mind come to his own conclusion about it. She stood up from the floor and went to stand by the open door, the scenery flying by. Four joined her a moment later, standing by her side in silence; he took hold of her hand. Free tried to pull away but his grip was firm as he intertwined his fingers with hers. His hand was warm where as hers was so cold and her heart beat picked up speed. "Why do you do that?" She asked, "The little touches, you know I don't like them." Four smiled to himself as he replied, "Because of freedom." He replied "And because thinking about you in someone else's bed infuriates me beyond belief; which is a little ridiculous since we've only really talked to each other today."

Free didn't know how to reply to that, but her stomach felt like it was doing back flips.

Free knocked on the door, she felt nervous which was unusual for her but understandable since they didn't seem to be on the best terms today, "Yeah?" Eric said opening the door. Free looked up at him expectantly and he stared at her for a moment before sighing and opening the door a little wider, she slipped past him and into his room. "I don't know what I did to make you annoyed but you've been a bit of a dick to me all day." She told him firmly as she flopped down onto his bed, looking up at the dark stone ceiling. Eric closed the door and leant against it, his arms crossed, "Stiff, what are you doing here?" He asked, he sounded tired. "Well first I'm going to find out exactly what _that's_ all about, why are you calling me stiff again? I thought we'd gotten past that. Then I'm going to go to sleep." She concluded. Eric held a palm up to his head, as if her being there was a nuisance to him, "Look Free, I'm tired okay? I just want to go to sleep."

"Fine," Free replied, "But make sure you wake me up early in the morning, we'll talk about it then." She pulled the covers over herself and snuggled into his pillows as she had done the night before, breathing in his smell. Eric shook his head in disbelief but didn't have the energy to protest so he walked round the bed and climbed in the other side, pulling half the covers away from her and draping them over himself. The faced away from each other in the dark, their breathing slow but not steady enough to hint that either of them had fallen asleep.

Free was cold, she was almost always cold but right now she felt extra cold, she thought back to the train ride back to the compound and how warm Four's hand had felt against her own and she looked over her shoulder at Eric. Slowly she rolled over so she was facing his back and hesitantly moved so she was only inches away from him. Once again her heart beat quickened, she was surprised it hadn't burst yet it couldn't be good for it to travel at such speeds so often. Free could feel the warmth radiating from him and she fought with herself over whether to close the gap between them, her head told her it was stupid, she couldn't get that close, she was already too close just being in the same room as him, she wasn't here to make friends, she didn't want to... All thoughts that were rushing through her head and being swatted away by another thought, _she wanted to be so close to him that her heart might just stop beating due to exhaustion. _So she closed the gap.

He jerked a little at her touch, he was probably startled due to the many times she'd told him not to touch her and because she was so cold but he was so warm and Free rested against him trying to steal his warmth. After a moment or two Eric twisted, she thought he was trying to move away from her and for some reason that upset her a little but he was turning to face her. "You're cold." He whispered and she nodded slowly, her eyes closed, "Always." She replied.

Eric brought his arms around her, placing his hands on her back. She tried to shrink away from him, _I don't like to be touched_ she thought but the words never passed her lips as he pulled her in closer and sleep stole them both away.

* * *

_Thanks for reading guys, I really hope you're still enjoying it, I tend to find my ability to write decreases the further a story progresses so I do hope it hasn't become too terrible for you. Thank you for reviewing/faving/following, please continue to do so as it is much apriciated ^.^ ~_**_RainbowVeins1612_**


	9. Chapter 9

Eric's POV

We didn't talk in the morning like she had said we would, when I woke up my arms were empty and she was already gone. It was lunch time before I saw her again, she sat with the other transfers and every time she would laugh at something that was said it would make my pulse rise; I so badly wanted to be the one making her laugh.

She excused herself a little while later, her lunch only half finished and not even a minute later Four was following her out. My hand curled into a fist as I took two slow, deep breaths. She was her own person, she could go anywhere with anyone and it was none of my business, except him.

It was the same routine over the next few days, she would spend the night curled up in my arms, whispering to one another until we fell asleep and then she would disappear before I woke up. Then I would see her at lunch, she would offer me a smile of a wave before going to sit with her friends where she would laugh and pick at the food on her plate until half of it was gone, then she would leave and a moment later Four would follow her out. The same would happen at dinner.

I had followed them a couple of times and each time I would see him touching her, simple touches like pushing her hair out of her face or brushing his hand against hers as they walked, occasionally she would flinch at his touches but most of the time she would simply look away as if it never occurred. She never let me touch her during the day; anytime I would attempt it she would swat my hand away and tell me off. Every time he touched her, it crushed me.

In the end they would always end up in the same place, the room in which initiates were sent into their fear landscapes. It hurt to know that Four had seen inside her head and knew all she was afraid of, I'd asked her but she would just shrug and avoid the question, tell me her fears weren't important but they were part of her and that made them important to me. It was only a few days until her test and then she wouldn't be an initiate anymore, she'd be a member of Dauntless, she'd be given a job to do and depending on what job they gave her would decide how often I would get to see her. I hoped she didn't do well and they gave her a low job that would mean she was always in the compound and I could see her whenever I wanted, it made me feel guilty to think such things but I just wanted her close to me.

Normal POV

Free sat in the uncomfortable chair in the room initiates entered their fear landscapes, so far they had discovered six of her fears; drowning, frogs - Four had found this one rather amusing- thunderstorms, others touching her and being alone, even the nightmare she'd been having for years, her parents abusing her, had been faced - this one had made her cry and Four had sat for an hour with her in his arms trying to convince her that everything was okay. They had taken a trip through Four's fear landscape, his fear of heights had made her laugh and being confined to such a small area during his claustrophobia had made both their hearts race - though his was because the room was shrinking - discovering he was Marcus Eaton's son and that the rumours about him were true was difficult for her, she didn't like to imagine anyone going through similar horrors to herself.

She held out her hand to take the needle from Four - she couldn't yet bring herself to think of him as Tobias Eaton - he shook his head at her and she sighed, tilting her head so he got a better angle of her neck. Four gently placed his fingers on her skin, letting them linger for a moment before injecting her with the serum. A moment later they were both in her fear landscape.

The water was murky and cold as hands dragged the two of them down further and further into its depths. Free could hear Four's words in her head, "keep calm, you can't fight this one just slow your heart rate." She took a moment to really listen to the words he'd been repeating to her each time they entered her fears but once she did she managed to clear her mind and just feel the water rush past her, she couldn't breathe but it didn't matter, she could feel her heart slowing down and beside her Four was smiling as the scene changed and they were stood in a field by a small shallow pond.

This fear always started off easy, one or two frogs would jump near her and she'd step on them though the sound and feel of the squishing under her boot wasn't exactly pleasant it did the trick. Then it would get harder more and more frogs would appear until they were everywhere, jumping on her, around her. She would still step on the ones she could and shake off others and she would breathe deeply to keep herself calm until every last frog was squashed, she always felt a little guilty after this fear and couldn't quite look Four in the eye until the landscape had changed.

Thunderstorms had by far become the easiest to deal with, all she needed to do was find a building to hide in and block out the noise and she was fine. People touching her was a little harder but with Four's little touches in reality she had grown more accustomed to it and the hands that would reach out for her were less scary when she imagined they were just him. The next one had been surprising when she had first faced it, being alone was something she enjoyed usually so to find that she was afraid of being truly alone had been surprising even for her. In a room full of people she was spinning around, shouting names but no one was listening and though Four was in her landscape with her, she couldn't see him. She would always find out later that he was stood right next to her but because her fear was being alone she couldn't see him.

Her next fear was always took the longest to get out of but she would use her speed and new training to get out and she would breathe, always breathe.

She expected the fears to end then like they had before but instead of waking up to the uncomfortable chair she was in Eric's room. Four stood beside her looking just as - if not more - confused as she was. "What are we doing here, Free?" He asked and Free shook her head, "I don't know." Four shrunk back, he didn't want to interfere with this new fear. Free stood waiting and a moment later Eric appeared, he wrapped his arms around her no matter how much she protested and was asking her questions, simple things that most people would just answer, like what her favourite colour was or her real name. Then when she wouldn't tell him anything he started shouting, he pushed her away and forced her back against a wall, yelling at her, calling her names and then he raised his hand to her...

Four sprung into action, he'd been motionless as he watched it play out but couldn't let Eric hit her, he slammed into the other boy's side knocking him away. Free sank to the floor as Four kicked and punched at Eric, then the room went dark.

A moment later Free woke up in the uncomfortable chair, Four staring down at her, concern filling his eye. "What was that?" He asked before She had even had chance to sit up. Free shook her head at him and pushed herself out of the chair, "It was nothing." She told him and hoped he'd let it go but he didn't. "Free look at me." He said and hooked a hand under her chin, turning her head to face him. "Has Eric ever hit you?" He asked, his expression was serious and Free's eyes widened as she shook her head furiously, "No, never!" He didn't look like he believed her, "I swear." Four looked at her for a moment longer then sighed and let her go. She left the room without looking back, her mind was racing, Eric had once said he didn't like hurting her but at the back of her mind she knew that didn't mean that he wouldn't and until now she hadn't realized how much that scared her.

Free walked and walked, she didn't know where she was going but she walked. "Hey, Free!" A voice called out to her and looking behind her she saw Eric. Her pulse began to race and not in the nice way she was used too, she picked up her pace as she continued to walk, "Free, what's the matter?" Eric asked, easily catching up with her, he reached out for her but she swatted him away, "Just stop, Eric. I need to be alone right now." Free snapped and Eric stopped walking with her, "Okay, I'll see you later?" He said as she disappeared round a corner. His voice sounded defeated but Free was too wound up to notice.

_Hm…. Not sure about this chapter but it had been so long since I updated that I thought I had to give you something. Anything. Let me know what you think by leaving a review and I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to give you anything _**_~RainbowVeins_**


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